It Was Just An Accident Movie Review (2025)
A darkly funny thriller about a chance encounter that spirals into something more complicated, It Was Just An Accident balances mystery, tension, and surprising emotional weight.
When I was at university, our theatre department put on a production of Death And The Maiden. I was on the stage crew at that point, working towards being a stage manager, so I was fully immersed in this intense drama about a former political prisoner, her husband, and a man that she believed she knew. It’s incredibly affecting, and a film of the same name starring Ben Kingsley and Sigourney Weaver was released several years later. The movie is good, but if you have the chance to see it, the play is better.
It Was Just An Accident begins with a man, his wife, and their small child driving down the road and accidentally hitting an animal. While at a body shop for repairs, a worker hears a specific squeak as the man walks. Convinced this is the man he has been looking for, Vahid captures this man and plans to bury him. The man pleads for his life, saying that he doesn’t know what Vahid is talking about, so Vahid drives to various other people who may be able to positively identify whether this is the man they all know.
This offbeat dramedy is different from most other films I’ve seen. I had a visceral reaction to some of the similarities between this and Death And The Maiden, but this is its own story. It is incredibly quirky with an undercurrent of building tension, but you don’t know why that exists for quite a while.
There is a lot of humor built into this slow-burning mystery, which keeps things light. The characters are likable, and the situation is continually absurd as they ask more people to weigh in on the captured man.
But as the movie continues, things take on a more serious tone. The man has a family. Is he really who they think he might be? If he’s not, what does that mean for his wife and child? If he is, what do they do with him?
There is a particular scene at the climax of the film that had me holding my breath. It is approximately 12 minutes of a single long take, lit by the red taillight of a car. While I had enjoyed the movie to that point, this scene pushed me over the edge of becoming attached to it. The scene is so haunting, so striking, that I don’t think I’ll ever forget it.
I don’t want to say much more about It Was Just An Accident because that would be doing a disservice to you, the viewer, but I will say one more thing. After watching the movie, I read a bit about it and discovered that writer/director/producer Jafar Panahi said it was filmed in secret in Iran. He is talking about it publicly now, but that in and of itself is such a victory. I have incredible respect for him.
Runtime: 103 minutes
Motion Picture Rating: PG-13
Languages Spoken In The Film: Persian and Azerbaijani with English subtitles
Should You Watch It? Yes
Did I Cry? Nope
My Rating: 4.5/5 Stars
Available: Free on Hulu and Disney+, to rent on Prime Video, or may be available for free on other streaming platforms
